Sacha Baron Cohen WON’T play Borat again after nearly being shot

Sacha Baron Cohen has claimed he ‘can’t’ return to the role of Borat as he fears for his life, after nearly being shot at a pro-Trump gun rally in the film’s sequel.

The comedian, 49, spoke on NPR’s Fresh Air on Wednesday, claiming his days getting in disguise were over as he felt his luck would ‘run out’ eventually.

He also claimed he only recreated the character in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm as he wanted to ‘take a stand’ against President Donald Trump, and persuade people to vote against him in the 2020 election.

‘At some point, your luck runs out’: Sacha Baron Cohen claimed on Wednesday he ‘can’t’ reprise Borat role in future as he fears for his life after nearly being shot while filming sequel

When asked if he’d consider going undercover again, Sacha reflected: ‘I think I’d be mad to. I was so angry with what was going on in America. And I’m not an American citizen, but I was scared for America.

‘I was scared for the rest of the world because I knew that if – I felt that if democracy was completely dismantled in America, then other democracies around the world would follow suit, and other authoritarian leaders would do the same.

‘And I felt I had to take a stand. So no, I can’t do this again. Firstly, just practically, at some point, your luck runs out.’

At the Trump rally he attended in the sequel, the crowd quickly realised Sacha was mocking them and angrily turning on him, forcing him to flee the stage, before barricading himself in his trailer and speeding away. 

Return: Sacha said he only recreated the character in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm to ‘take a stand’ against President Donald Trump and persuade people to vote against him in 2020

Of the incident, he said: ‘You know, escaping from that gun rally – you know, I spoke to the security guard afterwards and he just said, listen, a few seconds later and this could have ended very differently. 

‘If I hadn’t have had a security guard who luckily grabbed the hand of, you know, somebody who reached for his gun, who knows?

‘Maybe that guy would have tried to shoot me. Maybe he was just waving me to intimidate me. 

‘But at some point, your luck runs out. And so I never wanted to do this stuff again (laughter). But no, I can’t.’

Dangerous: At the Trump rally he attended the crowd angrily turned against him, and he said it ‘could have ended very differently’ if his bodyguard hadn’t stopped a man with a gun

In late 2019 Sacha revived the beloved character for last year’s Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, the sequel to 2006’s Borat.

He plays a bumbling Kazakh journalist who travels to America to learn more about their culture in the hilarious and at times unbelievable mockumentaries. 

Of why he went back to the role, he claimed: ‘I didn’t want to do Borat again. I didn’t want to go undercover again. 

‘I felt I had to do anything I could to remind people of what, in 90 minutes, in a humorous way, of what Trump had done the prior four years, and I felt I had to try and infiltrate his inner circle, which we did do with Rudy Giuliani and Mike Pence. 

‘We felt we had to do that. I felt I had to get this movie out before the election. But, yes, maybe I’m crazy.’

Another clip from the film quickly went viral as it showed an embarrassing moment involving Trump surrogate Rudy Giuliani.

‘Borat’s’ ‘daughter Tutar’ played by Maria Bakalova was interviewing Giuliani for a segment – one that he assumed was a real interview – in a hotel. 

During that sequence he can be seen lying back on a bed and putting his hand down his pants as ‘Tutar’ adjusted his mic – he says, because he was just fixing his shirt. 

Concerns: Sacha said of going undercover, ‘At some point, your luck runs out. And so I never wanted to do this stuff again (laughter). But no, I can’t’

Of the ethics of deceiving people with the characters, Sacha said: ‘When you’re doing stuff like a gun rally and you could get shot, then morally it’s very clear. 

‘Or if you’re undermining one of Trump’s inner circle, whose sole aim is to undermine the legitimacy of the election, then, yeah, that’s moral. I mean, look at what Rudy did post Borat coming out. 

‘He spread this big lie that Trump had won the election. And that lie is so dangerous and so misleading that it led to the attack on the Capitol — and it hasn’t ended.’

Morals: Of the ethics of deceiving people with his roles, Sacha (pictured in a Trump mask) said: ‘When you’re doing stuff like a gun rally and you could get shot, then morally it’s very clear’ 

He went on: ‘So the morality of seeing how Rudy would react when he was alone in a room with an attractive young woman, I think that morality is pretty clear.

‘I think it’s evidence of the misogyny that was trumpeted by the president and was almost a badge of honor with his inner circle. 

‘What we did with Rudy was crucial. I mean, we made the movie to have an impact on the election… So ethically, I can stand by that all day long.’

Support: Sacha (pictured with Maria Bakalova) added, ‘If you’re undermining one of Trump’s inner circle, whose sole aim is to undermine the legitimacy of the election, then that’s moral’